Multimodal composition

Multimodal composition refers to the practice of creating texts that integrate multiple modes of communication—linguistic, visual, aural, spatial, and gestural—to make meaning. In First-Year Composition (FYC), multimodal assignments foster rhetorical awareness by requiring students to make deliberate choices about how they communicate across platforms such as podcasts, infographics, websites, videos, and digital storytelling. This approach mirrors the communicative demands of academic, professional, and real-world contexts, helping students cultivate flexible, transferable writing skills. Multimodal work also supports equity by validating diverse literacies and student identities that are often marginalized in traditional, alphabetic writing. Recent research highlights that multimodal composing not only enhances student engagement, critical thinking, and creativity but also deepens understanding of genre, audience, and rhetorical purpose. It further supports writing transfer by encouraging students to apply rhetorical strategies across diverse tasks and contexts. Scholars such as Yu and Clark (2023, 2024) have shown that multimodal projects strengthen metalinguistic reflection, while Takayoshi and Selfe (2020) and McGrail et al. (2021) offer robust frameworks for teaching and assessing multimodal composition in FYC and beyond.

References

• Yu, E. D., & Clark, T. (2023). Multimodal constructs of language assessment in a digital age. Linguistics and Education, 51, 1–11. DOI link

• Yu, E. D., & Clark, T. (2024). Understanding L2 student writers’ self‑assessment in digital multimodal composing: A process‑oriented approach. System, 121, 103219. DOI link

• Shepherd, R. P. (2018). Digital writing, multimodality, and learning transfer: Crafting connections between composition and online composing. Computers and Composition, 48, 103-114.Computer and Composition Link

• McGrail, E., Turner, K. H., Piotrowski, A., Caprino, K., Zucker, L., & Greenwood, M. E. (2021). An Interconnected Framework for Assessment of Digital Multimodal Composition. English Education, 53(4), 277–302. DOI link

• Shipka, J. (2011). Toward a Composition Made Whole. University of Pittsburgh Press. JSTOR Link

• Palmeri, J. (2012). Remixing Composition: A History of Multimodal Writing Pedagogy. Southern Illinois University Press. Available Online

• Selfe, C. L. (2009). The Movement of Air, the Breath of Meaning: Aurality and Multimodal Composing. College Composition and Communication, 60(4), 616–663. JSTOR Link

• Alexander, K. P., & Rhodes, J. (2014). On Multimodality: New Media in Composition Studies. NCTE. Available Online

• Arola, K. L., Sheppard, J., & Ball, C. E. (2014). Writer/Designer: A Guide to Making Multimodal Projects. Bedford/St. Martin’s. Available Online